The study involved the chemical and mineralogical analysis of actual tailings production from Lubin Concentrator Plant (KGHM Polska Miedz SA Group). KGHM Polska Miedz SA Group is the world’s leading company that mines and processes sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposits in SW Poland. From the beginning of copper ore mining, the problem of utilization and managing the deposited tailings has been discussed. Annually, all three concentrators produce above 30 million tons of flotation tailings. Lubin Concentrator Plant processes the most complex in upgradeability ore from the other two concentrators. The total loss of copper-bearing minerals in 0.020–0.071 mm size fraction was found to be 52%. The analysis of liberation showed that in fines (–0.020 mm) over 50% of sulfides is released while the amount of totally locked sulfides in the sample constitutes for 65%. The main cause of significant decline in the finest fractions should be attributed to inappropriate flotation time or too low collector dose. Insufficient liberation of sulfides in the coarser fractions can be a reason for the loss of copper in these fractions. The presented results of final tailings confirm the main cause of metal losses in tailings to be very complex mineral properties.

Influence of n-dodecane aqueous emulsion on flotation of sulfide minerals present in the copper ore from the Legnica-Glogow Copper Basin (LGOM), carried out on the laboratory scale, was investigated. Five flotation experiments performed in the presence of different doses of n-dodecane were conducted and compared. Next, mineral analysis of selected flotation products were conducted and discussed. The best flotation selectivity was obtained for bornite, tennantite and chalcocite using 600 g/t of n-dodecane. In the case of non-copper sulfides, the maximum selectivity was observed for sphalerite and galena. Measurements of the rest potential of copper sulfide conducted to explain the differences between recoveries of each sulfide mineral were performed. It was observed, that with increasing sulfide rest potential, the recovery was decreasing. The study provided information hitherto poorly available in literature on flotation of sulfides from the LGOM area with n-dodecane.

The aim of this publication is to analyze the influence of rock mineral composition and rock geometric properties on the quality of crushed aggregates, from the perspective of selecting an adequate aggregate production technology. This research is based on samples of crushed aggregates from plants processing igneous rocks from four different igneous deposits. In the case of the geometric properties, shape and flakiness indexes were identified and subsequently analyzed along with particle size distribution. The performed tests allowed a conclusion that the shape of the particle is influenced by the mineral composition and size distribution. The grain size analysis demonstrated that flaky and non-cubical particles concentrate in the finest grain fractions, and the least variable shape index is observed for basalt aggregate. Some problems were also observed to exist in relation to the classification of grain shape. In the literature, the notions of regular and irregular grains seem to be used interchangeably with the notions of flaky and non-flaky grains. The performed tests show that flaky grains do not necessarily have to be non-cubical and vice versa. Therefore, this article proposes an approach in which the applied technique is precisely explained and the shape of grains is described with four notions: cubical, non-cubical, flaky, and non-flaky. The article also finally concludes that the next step in the research on selecting an optimal production technology of high-quality aggregates should be to analyze the selection of the fragmentation process while also characterizing the geometric properties of the aggregates.

This study involved the chemical and detailed mineralogical analysis of the final copper concentrate produced at the Lubin Concentrator, one of the concentrating plants of the Mining–Smelting Complex KGHM Polska Miedz SA. The KGHM Complex mines and processes are one of the world’s biggest stratiform-type copper deposits. The ore processed in the Lubin Concentrator is the poorest in metals from the ores mined in the KGHM mines and is difficult for upgrading. The copper flotation concentrates produced at the Lubin Concentrator are characterized by polymetallic (Cu-Ag-Pb), polymineral and fine-grained composition, with the lowest content of copper (below 14%) among three concentrator plants of the KGHM. The total content of sulfide minerals is about 33%. The main sulfides are chalcopyrite, bornite, galena, and pyrite with marcasite. The aim of this study is an attempt to explain the causes of the low quality of concentrates produced in the Lubin Concentrator. For this purpose, a detailed quantitative mineral analysis of a commercial concentrate sample was performed. There were also performed operations consisting in non-oxidative acid leaching of gangue minerals followed by flotation of the concentrate with the use of a depressant. The obtained results are important and promising for the smelting use of these concentrates.